Salmon

[chrose]

Salmon also goes very nicely with Teriyaki sauce. In Alaska everyone uses Yoshidas! It also goes great with Chinese Black Bean sauce. I like to grill it with a mirepoix with thyme and lemon butter on top as well. Salsa goes well as does soy sauce and cabbage. There is a ton of things you can do with salmon and it will hold up to all of them. Simply grilled though with a little garlic and lemon butter is the best!

[allie]

Since this has no skin, I'll refrain from grilling but that is my favorite way of cooking salmon so far. I agree simple lemon and garlic goes so well with it! I hadn't thought of the teriyaki sauce but should have as I've had it in a restaurant before.....that's something I almost always keep in the fridge.

Thank you all! These suggestions are wonderful!

[Jock]

Originally Posted by allie

Maybe if I pan fry in a nonstick that would work?

Yup, sure would. Just some salt and pepper and you are good to go. Flesh side down first on moderately high heat to give it a nice golden crust then flip it over for a couple of minutes and it's done. That would work well with your mango salsa. Just nice clean flavors.

Youll want to have your hood fan on cos the fatty tissue down the center of the fillet on the skin side can smell up the house for days.

Jock

[allie]

I did the packets yesterday. I just put asparagus on the bottom, then lemon slices, then a salmon fillet, lemon pepper, and more lemon slices. My daughter loved it! My son and I didn't care for it. I can't really explain why except maybe that I'm too accustomed to grilling salmon fillets so it was a bit different texture and, of course, the taste.

I'm going to try the panfried tomorrow. I'll do it outside on the gas burner. I do NOT want to smell it in the house and my hood fan doesn't work. We have an off size and it's proving impossible to find a replacement. Not good because I don't want to replace cabinets, too! I just open the window close to the stove when I cook smelly things but that doesn't work that well.

[indianwells]

Originally Posted by allie

I did the packets yesterday. I just put asparagus on the bottom, then lemon slices, then a salmon fillet, lemon pepper, and more lemon slices. My daughter loved it! My son and I didn't care for it. I can't really explain why except maybe that I'm too accustomed to grilling salmon fillets so it was a bit different texture and, of course, the taste.

I'm going to try the panfried tomorrow. I'll do it outside on the gas burner. I do NOT want to smell it in the house and my hood fan doesn't work. We have an off size and it's proving impossible to find a replacement. Not good because I don't want to replace cabinets, too! I just open the window close to the stove when I cook smelly things but that doesn't work that well.

Sounds like a lot of lemon? I just give a squeeze of lemon and a splash of dry white wine. I've overdone the lemon thing in the past and found it too acidic.

[allie]

Except on the asparagus, I couldn't discern a lot of the lemon taste. I sliced it very thin. The salmon was very firm but still flaked with a fork. I don't know, I just didn't like it very much.

[vapour]

First of all, I must say you're very lucky to get your hands on so much salmon. One thing I love to make when I get fresh sides of salmon is to make gravlax, like some suggested. I know some recipes call for fresh dill, but that is so predictable. This one restaurant I worked at uses citrus zest.

1kg kosher salt
3 cups sugar
10 oranges, zested
10 lemons, zested
10 limes, zested

I know its weird, I have weight and volume measurements, but that's how the recipe was. It's enough to cure about 2 sides of salmon. Just keep rubbing the zest with the salt and sugar until evenly mixed, spread an even layer over the salmon, and weight it with something. Takes about 12 hours to 24. Just press on the flesh and it should feel somewhat firm, if still too soft, cure longer. Brush off the cure very well, and slice paper thin. bon apetite!!

[DevilNuts]

Two words:

Teriyaki Marinade.

[allie]

I did end up cooking some of the salmon on top of the stove in a teriyaki marinade. That was far and away the biggest winner with the kids!! They want to have it again!

Thank you all so much for your help! All the salmon is gone now but you never know when I might luck up on some more or decide to buy some just to try some of these ideas!

[96khzz]

I made salmon last night with a chili glaze and it was awesome. Just shallot, garlic, white wine vinegar, honey, chili powder, chayenne, and salt/pepper. Reduce that, brush it on during cooking and pour a little extra on at the end. It's that simple and really good!

[Abbot]

My impression always has been that the orange/red coloration of wild salmon from the sea is due to the crustaceans(shrimp) in their diet. The pigment is a carotenoid compound (astaxanthin) related to the orange pigment in carrots. It may be that salmon from the Great Lakes are generally paler than their oceanic equivalents due to the fact their diets do not include (to my knowledge) crustaceans at all, but are mostly alewives and such, ie just small fish.

[nowIamone]

Abbot,

I live in the midst of big time salmon country and have never heard this at all, but I am open minded to the theory, and will start a quest for the answer.

But, shrimp are not orange, or shrimp colored until they are cooked and some not at all. And shrimp is a very small part of a salmon's diet.

We have five distinct salmon species here in the pacific northwest and the color of the flesh is very differant. We also have a winter king with white meat. The fish all have differant feeding habits, as their timing in the salt or fresh waters is different, and would effect their ability to feed on shrimp.

[KYHeirloomer]

Abbot, salmon have a natural coloration based on species as well as what they eat.

In the Great Lakes, for instance, the kings (chinook) have that deep red color most people associate with salmon. Coho, on the other hand, are a pale pinkish, almost white, color. Steelhead are white-fleshed, of course; and the Native American commercial catch is often marketed as "white salmon".

The humpbacks (which most people, unfortunately, do not bother with because of their small size) have a distinct pink coloration to both their skin and flesh---hence their common name, pink salmon.

Lake trout have a comparatively dark flesh. Not exactly red, but certainly a long way from white. Lakers, fwiw, are the only salmonid native to Lake Michigan. All the others were introduced.

The biggest color variation is found in the coastal browns, which often run in the 18-22 pound range. Their color is more affected by diet than any of the other salmonids in Lake Michigan.

[Cat Man]

HEY....Abbott...!!
(just had to say that, sorry)

I live in Fla now, but used to live on Vancouver Island.
When I golf, I see pink and white flamingos.
The white flamingos prefer to eat white krill, the pink flamingos eat pink krill.

Same carenotoid theory and it's perfectly logical. There are pink krill and white krill in the pacific.
Ivory King Salmon just happen to prefer eating white krill. The "village idiots", if you will. We all know pink tastes better than white.

Cat Man

[Abbot]

My reference is p. 194, On Food and Cooking, H. McGee. I have fished for salmon species of all sorts in Alaska, Canada and Washington and am aware of the culinary differences in the 5 species. The flamingo example is a good case in point for how carotenes are sequestered from prey species into the pigmentation of the predator. Native trout have flesh that varies in color depth too, depending on the nature of their diet, and, of course, the ones you see commercially available have had no carotenes added to their diet like pen raised salmon. Pen raised salmon can have their flesh colored by the addition of ground shrimp shell waste to their food although chemically synthesized carotenoids may be more common.